Photo provided The new identity for IUPUC will have a new logo for Indiana University Columbus.
IUPUC officials unveiled plans Wednesday to rebrand the university campus as Indiana University Columbus within the next year as part of an academic realignment of IUPUI that was announced last year.
IUPUC will start using the IU Columbus identity, name and logo in the coming months but will not officially transition to IU Columbus until July 1, 2024, officials said.
“As we become IU Columbus, this is the beginning of a new era for the campus and a continuation of our focus on serving south central Indiana,” IUPUC Vice Chancellor and Dean Reinhold Hill in a statement Wednesday. “Our steadfast commitment to students across our community will never change, but we’ll do so unmistakably linked to the state’s most comprehensive university.”
The transition is part of plans announced in June 2022 to transform IUPUI in Indianapolis into two independent academic organizations.
Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding that the two universities agreed to in August, IU will continue to own and operate the Indianapolis campus and will take over operation of what is now IUPUI’s School of Science, except for the Department of Computer Science, which will become part of Purdue.
IUPUC, which has more than 1,400 students, is a regional division of IUPUI and has had a presence in Columbus for more than 50 years. The campus started as the Columbus Center of IUPUI, then transitioning to IUPUC, which now offers 11 undergraduate and two graduate degree programs.
IUPUI will be rebranded as Indiana University – Indianapolis.
The transition to IU Columbus will impact two Purdue University degree programs in biology and mechanical engineering that are currently offered at IUPUC, officials said.
While no changes to academic offerings will take place in the 2023-2024 academic year, the IU Columbus campus will not offer a mechanical engineering degree as of fall 2024, officials said.
Purdue plans to offer new work-integrated learning pathways to Purdue engineering degrees in mechanical engineering and additional majors. Also in fall 2024, IU Columbus will offer an Indiana University biology degree. All students currently enrolled in biology and mechanical engineering will have the opportunity to complete their degrees in Columbus. No other degree programs are affected.
“IU Columbus will reflect the university’s proud history of creating opportunity for students, including those here in south central Indiana,” Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, IU executive vice president and interim chancellor of IUPUI, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the community’s support of our Columbus campus, reaffirm our commitment to collaboration with local civic and industry partners, and look forward to our continued focus on educating the region’s next generation of leaders.”
By Andrew East. The (Columbus) Republic is a sister newspaper to the Daily Journal.
